WOW Halong Bay

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YET AGAIN ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH PICTURES,
WE PICKED UP A VIRUS ON OUR MEMORY CARD FROM AN INTERNET CAFE SO PICS WILL BE POSTED LATER SORRY BUT AT LEAST YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE TRIP
We've been really worried about our Halong Bay trip since we booked it in Hue, as we have been hearing lots of stories from other people that had been, and not all of them good.
We had heard of people paying $100 being on the same boat as people that had paid $35, people being told that they would go to Monkey Island or go kayaking and it never happened and over crowded boats.
But we need not have worried, we were told for $49 we would get 3 days/2 nights 1 night on the boat and one on Cat Ba Island plus kayaking all meals, transport and a max group size of 14.
We were picked up from our hotel on time and there were only 14 of us as promised, its a 3hr drive to Halong City where you board the boat, our boat was really nice and we had a great cabin on the upper deck (it has 2 decks and a roof sun terrace).
For the last 10 days we have been travelling with Jon(uk) and Danni(oz) they have been living in NZ for the last 2 years and are on their way back to Melbourne via a 9 mth round the world trip.
It was Jons birthday on the first night on the boat and we had a great party for him, the drink was flowing from the moment we got on till not very late as we went a bit hard too early.
On our first stop Jon and i were straight up to the top deck to jump in it was quite a long drop but the few vodkas before hand helped.
Where we were anchored there was probably 5 other boats but we were the only jumpers (Dani also jumped.....respect)
The scenery in Halong Bay is undescribeable, it is so beautiful, even though the pictures look great it is so much better real life.
We arrived at Cat Ba Island and were met by the mini bus which was to take us to our hotel, all of us were a tad hungover and were looking forward to a chilled afternoon but 10 mins down the road we stopped and were told that we now were going for a trek up a hill to a lookout.....we were not pleased, Dem and i havent owned a pair of shoes in 2 months and the guide thought it wouldnt be a good idea in flops, but we werent going to sit in a van for 2 hrs and decided to go as far as we could.
We made it to the top and the view was ok if you like hills.
The bus took us to our hotel where we checked into our rooms, then got back into the van to go kayaking.
This was another highlight, Dem hasnt been kayaking before and she wants to go to Abel Tasman so this was good opportunity for her to have a try.
The van dropped us at the other side of the island where a smaller boat took us out into the bay to a floating village where you get the kayaks.
The guide led us around a few of the islands before we got to a small archway in one of the rocks, inside was a beautiful lagoon, you can only get into when the tide is low, it was amazing.
After the lagoon we rowed to a small beach where we could swim and even though the weather wasnt super hot the water was lovely, then it was back to the boat and back to Cat Ba.
After dinner at the hotel, Rea and Tim(Canadian couple) and Dem and i went to "the flightless bird bar" yes theres even a bar run by a kiwi on Cat Bar, yet another late and boozy night.
The next morning it was back on the boat for the trip back to Halong City and the bus back to Hanoi.
On our final night in Hanoi our American friend Matthew came and had dinner with us which was great we first met him in Lao and have travelled in every country with him it was sad to say goodbye to him but he promises he will next see us in NZ (we will hold you to that)
All in all we have had a great time in Vietnam we have met some great people along the way, its been different to our time in Lao and Cambodia, its been so easy to travel in Nam, nice cheap hotels with pools, cheap luxury buses and mostly beaches and bars where as in Lao and Cambodia we felt like we were really travelling as backpackers.
Its nearly all over now, off to Bangkok for some shopping (as we have no clothes at all) and to visit the Tiger temple then NZ and the start of our new life down under.

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Comments

[Kiers]

So sad :-(
It's so sad that it's all coming to an end for you both - reading all the blogs has been FAB! Safe journey from Bankok and will look forward to catching up with you in sunny NZ!!!!!!!! x x